FAMILIES who lost loved ones in the M56 crash horror gathered together in grief on a motorway bridge overlooking the scene.

They paid their poignant tributes as two teenage brothers were comforting each other after being orphaned in the tragedy.

Richard McCoig-Lees, 15, survived the accident on Thursday, but his parents, Martin and Denise, and younger brother, Ryan, all died.

Richard's 19-year-old brother, Matthew, a student at Manchester University, who had not been going with the rest of the family on their holiday, rushed to be by his bedside as he recovered from minor injuries.

The younger boy has now been discharged from hospital and both teenagers are staying with family friends.

Holiday

Mr and Mrs McCoig-Lees, both 47, from Ledbury, Hertfordshire, and their son, Ryan, nine, were among 14 passengers on a mini-bus being driven from the Britannia Hotrel, Northenden, to Manchester Airport early on Thursday morning en route to a holiday in the USA.

Driver Robert Taylor, 42, from Stretford, who also died, lost control shortly before the Wythenshawe turnoff and hurtled into the central barrier and a motorway lamp post.

The side and roof of the bus were sheered off, killing seven almost instantly and leaving two badly hurt.

They are a mother and her 14-year-old daughter from Dunfermline, Scotland, who remain seriously ill in hospital today, each unaware of the other's plight and of the fact that the woman's husband was killed.

Also among the dead was a mother-of-two bound for a dream holiday with her new partner.

Doreen Sommerville, 43, was going to Mexico with her boyfriend and they were planning to set up home together when they returned.

Elizabeth Burnside, a neighbour of Ms Sommerville in Sunderland said: "Everyone is devastated. It's tragic she had to die in such a way when she was so happy about the future."

Ms Sommerville's partner, Ian Jobson, 39, from Tyne and Wear, was released from hospital after treatment.

Police confirmed that 50-year-old Alice Barr, from Belfast, was killed in the crash. Her 55-year-old partner suffered only minor injuries.

Devastated

The family of driver Mr Taylor said they had been "absolutely devastated" at the loss of a "fun-loving husband, father, grandfather and friend".

In a statement, his wife Elaine and daughter Kelly, 24, said: "Everyone who knew him has been left devastated by what's happened."

A party of three men, aged between 31 and 35, from Leeds, were released following treatment in hospital.

It is thought the accident happened after the minibus collided with a Toyota Carina and veered across the road into the central reservation.

A police officer was at the scene within seconds, but found seven on board the minibus were already dead.

Pc Paul Fazackerley, who had been parked yards from the scene, said the horror of what he saw was only now beginning to sink in.